Sudanese students offers reward for head of UN envoy

What is the matter with these people? Perhaps the extract below [see Darfur: The dangerous game of Sudan's ruling party] related to the following article, gives some clues.

March 7, 2006 article from Khartoum at Sudan Tribune says in a new development of the continual mobilization against the UN takeover in Darfur, a pro-ruling party student organization said it would reward Pronk's head. Excerpt:

According to AL-Watan daily newspaper, president of the General Union of Sudanese Students Mohamed Abdallah Sheikh Idriss has announced a 100,000 US dollars' reward for the head of the UN representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk.

About 200 Sudanese students demonstrated on Tuesday urging the United Nations to leave their country and calling it a colonial force, days ahead of a decision to deploy U.N. troops to the violent Darfur region.

"This is our message to you Jan Pronk: Get out of our country, leave immediately," Sheikh Idriss, told the chanting crowd. Pronk is the top UN envoy in Sudan.

Sheikh Idriss warned that all the students of Darfur stood against any foreign intervention pointing out that in the universities of Khartoum alone there were more than 9,000 students, who were all time bombs ready to go off in the face of tyranny.

Photo: There is growing anger about the possible deployment of UN forces (BBC) - see today's news of protests over Darfur peacekeepers.
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Darfur: The dangerous game of Sudan's ruling party

Excerpt from a related comment at Sudan Tribune dated March 6, 2006:

"The danger today is not international intervention but the very dangerous game played by the National Salvation Revolution leaders and their ruling National Congress Party (NCP) with the international community, which may lead to their own defeat and the country's destruction.

The scenario of this dangerous game began with voices rising from influential sides in the government warning that the transfer of the Darfur mission meant that Al-Qaidah would be involved and that the organization's members would infiltrate the region from nine fronts. This was followed by the inauguration of the so-called Darfur Jihad Organization, an armed group set up to resist intervention by foreign troops in coordination with, as its founding statement said, "all the Jihadist organizations on the Islamic arena".

Another organization, the Exterminator of Evil Forces was also created. The Sudanese Media Center (SMC), which is closely linked to the government, said to have received a statement from the group, in which the organization denied having links with Al-Qaidah. The Salvation government has created a conducive environment for the formation of such organization by calling for mobilization and jihad against the UN troops and announcing what was said to be "the one million men swearing the oath of death"."

Libya, US discuss relations and Darfur problem

Libya's LJBC News reports March 8, 2006 that Libya's Secretary of Cooperation Affairs at the Secretariat of Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation discussed with the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, the prospects of cooperation between the two countries.

During this meeting, attended by the director of European Department at the GPC for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation and the head of the American Liaison Office to Libya, the means of promoting this cooperation at different levels were addressed.

Jendayi Frazer praised the efforts made by Libya to find peaceful solutions to the problem in Darfur and eastern Sudan.

Libya and the US underlined the importance of finding a political fair solution to the Darfur issue through negotiations and dialogue among the disputing parties, in addition to continue support to the efforts made within the framework of the African Union.

Libya receives Sudanese Vice-President Ali Taha

Libya's LJBC News reports Mar 8, 2006 Libyan leader Col Gaddafi received on Tuesday evening, Ali Uthman Mohammed Taha, the Vice-President of Sudan.

Taha briefed Col Gaddafi on the latest developments concerning the problem in Darfur, which Sudanese President Al-Bashir has briefed the Libyan leader about its latest developments in his telephone call earlier Tuesday.

Libya's Secretary of AU Affairs at the GPC for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation attended the meeting.

EU pays for 60% of AU operation and could help further - EU, US push Sudan for UN mandate in Darfur

EU, AU and UN Sudan talks underway in Brussels. Reuters/WP report by Ingrid Melander, Mar 8, 2006 confirms EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Development Commissioner Louis Michel began a day of meetings with African Union and Sudanese leaders as well senior United Nations and US officials. Excerpt:

Talks kicked off with a working breakfast between Solana and the Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. "Taha is a key player in the Sudanese government ... We hope he hears the message" on shifting to a UN mandate, an EU official said.

AFRICANS MUST PLAY A KEY ROLE

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, due to join the talks during the day, said he would push for a UN mission. "We believe that, to the maximum extent possible, the AU forces in Darfur should be incorporated into the UN mission in which Africans should play a key leadership role," Zoellick said in a statement before leaving Washington. "No one party can do it alone -- Africans must play a key role, the Government of National Unity in Sudan must assume responsibility, and the UN. must be active as well," he added.

NO EU BOOTS ON GROUND

At the Security Council's request, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has begun planning for a shift from a 7,000-strong AU force to a larger and better equipped UN mission for the troubled area. UN officials have sought NATO and EU support.

The African Union will meet on Friday in Addis Ababa to decide whether to hand its mission to UN command. Sudan has been lobbying AU states to reject this changeover.

The EU was also pressing the Sudanese authorities to inject new urgency into stalled negotiations with Darfur rebels in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the official said.

On the eve of the talks, Solana played down the possibility of European troops getting involved on the ground.

"I'm sure the Africans will prefer to do it themselves," he told a news conference in Innsbruck, Austria, on Tuesday, when asked if he expected European boots on the ground. "The African Union does not want any," Solana said, adding: "If it was the UN., it could be open. But it is very logical that the bulk of the force will be Africans."

He noted the EU already pays for 60 percent of the AU operation and could help further with strategic airlift, logistics and communications.

African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare was also to take part in Wednesday's talks along with Hedi Annabi, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. (Additional reporting by Mark John in Innsbruck)

See Mar 7 2006 EC Press Release - European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, will call all parties for more progress in the peace talks on Darfur, in a series of high level meetings with the UN, the African Union, the USA and the Sudanese Government, tomorrow in Brussels.

Protests over Darfur peacekeepers

Do the protests over Darfur peacekeepers not make you feel sick? Khartoum has a knack for gathering protestors to march against any move to protect the people of Darfur. Who are the protestors? Are they paid by Khartoum? Why do they (and Africans and Arabs elsewhere) never protest about the suffering of their brothers and sisters imprisoned in refugee camps many who are still dying from malnutrition, disease and attacks in their own country by fellow citizens.



Photo: Thousands of Sudanese protest against UN force (Reuters) by Opheera McDoom and Jilan Sherif Mar 8, 2006.

In a BBC report today, the BBC's Jonah Fisher says although 10,000 United Nations troops are being deployed to southern and eastern Sudan, the prospect of a UN mission in the west is unacceptable to many Sudanese. Excerpt:

Stirred up by violent rhetoric in Islamic newspapers, many thousands of people are expected to march to the UN headquarters.

Our correspondent says many believe their country's sovereignty is at stake, with the West eager to turn Sudan into another Iraq.

Death threats against Western diplomats have been published and militia groups have warned of a holy war.

Photo: AU soldier in Kalma Camp, South Darfur faces a crowd holding a placard saying "WE NEED INTERNATIONAL FORCE TO PROTECT US" (Courtesy flickr file of Andrew Heavens, a journalist based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia who authors Meskel Square blog)

Protestors included militias backed by Khartoum government

Mar 8 2006 UPI report at Washington Times:

Sudanese, shouting "Down, down, USA" and "Jihad, victory, martyrdom," marched through Khartoum protesting a United Nations plan to protect those in Darfur.

The protesters, numbering in the thousands, condemned a U.N. plan to take over peacekeeping operations in the Darfur region, where violence has already killed more than 200,000 civilians and made about 2 million others homeless.

The marchers included militias backed by the Khartoum government, the BBC reports. Currently, a 7,000-man force of the African Union is involved in peacekeeping efforts, but the force is facing financial problems.

The BBC report said Sudan has vowed to leave the AU if the body allows the United Nations to take over to end the violence. Many of those opposed to the plan accuse the West of wanting to turn Sudan into another Iraq.

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Mar 8 2006 Coalition for Darfur points to a report by Reuters that says, quote:

"The protestors handed a statement to UN offices demanding the immediate eviction of the top UN envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk. Sudanese women bearing kalashnikovs joined the march, declaring their readiness to fight foreign troops.

The defense minister also rallied troops against intervention at a military demonstration in Khartoum.

"Jihad, victory, martyrdom," the soldiers chanted. "Our martyrs are in heaven, and we are ready," said Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein."

AU regrets Sudan's press campaign against AU troops

Sudanese press is not alone in denigrating the role of the African peacekeeping force in Darfur. It is happening in the western media too. AU soldiers deserve praise and medals, not unfair criticism for failing to stop a war.



Photo: African Union soldier at Kalma camp for internally displaced people near Nyala, southern Darfur, Sudan (by journalist Andrew Heavens at Meskel Square blog)

The AU's mandate in Darfur reduces its soldiers to act as monitors, not a protection force with Chapter VII mandate. Given the shortage of equipment and resources they have to work with, they are doing an excellent job and proving themselves to be great ambassadors of their home countries.



Photo: African Union soldier on parade outside his base at Nyala, southern Darfur, Sudan (Courtesy Andrew Heavens)

An AU spokesman says AMIS is the biggest mission ever mounted by the African Union since its inception, comprising more than seven thousand African men and women, who are proud to demonstrate African solidarity with the people of the Sudan. They have been performing their duties in the best manner possible, making great sacrifices on behalf of Africa. See Sudan Tribune article Mar 7 2006.



Photo: African Union troops parade in Nyala, southern Darfur, Sudan (Courtesy Andrew Heavens)

Note, the above article says some officials in Khartoum were recently quoted by the local press as saying that AMIS was causing the spread of the AIDS epidemic and carrying out Christianization activities in Darfur.



Photo: African Union soldier at Kalma camp for internally displaced people near Nyala, southern Darfur, Sudan (Courtesy Andrew Heavens)

Sudan, Egypt, Libya to hold new Darfur talks

AFP Mar 8, 2006 reports Sudanese President Bashir is to hold a new mini-summit on the Darfur crisis with his Egyptian and Libyan counterparts ahead of an Arab summit in Khartoum later this month, presidential advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail said Tuesday. Excerpt:

"The summit shall be convened before the Arab summit and it may be held either in Cairo or Tripoli," Ismail told reporters after Cairo talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Ahead of the meeting, he had said he expected the mini-summit to be convened within 48 hours. But afterwards he did not elaborate on how soon before the March 28-29 summit it would go ahead.

The three leaders already met in Misrata, Libya on Febraury 28 and voiced strong opposition to Western plans to replace an African Union force in Darfur with UN peacekeepers. Ismail Tuesday reiterated Khartoum's strong opposition to the plans. "Sudan’s position on this issue is clear, and that is that the AU forces should remain in Darfur and carry on their duties," he said."

Photo: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi (C) receives Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) and Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir (R) as Libya hosts a two-day summit of African leaders on finding peace in Darfur, on May 16, 2005.

Mar 8, 2006 AngolaPress reports Egypt to host three-way summit on Darfur. Excerpt:

CAIRO,03/08 - Leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Libya will hold a three-way summit here next week to discuss the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

"A three-way consultative summit grouping Egypt, Libya and Sudan is to be held here (Cairo) next week," Sudanese presidential adviser Moustafa Othman Ismail was quoted as saying.

Ismail said that the three countries agreed to meet ahead of the upcoming Arab summit slated to be held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on March 28-29.

Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Samani al-Wasila al-Sheikh on Tuesday reiterated his country's opposition to the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops in Darfur.

"The best solution to the problem is to provide more material and logistic aid to the African Union peacekeeping troops to help them carry out the mission," al-Wasila told the Cairo-based "Voice of the Arabs" radio by telephone from Khartoum.

EU to hold talks with international officials on Darfur

AP Mar 7, 2006 reports European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold a series of meetings Wednesday with officials from the US, African Union and Sudan on how to advance international efforts to solve the conflict in Darfur, his office said. Excerpt:

The talks at EU headquarters will focus on how key donors like the EU and the United States can help spur peace talks between the Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government, his office said in a statement Tuesday.

Officials said Solana would hold talks with Deputy US Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the AU's Commission.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi also is to attend the round of talks aimed at keeping peace efforts alive. Peace talks between Darfur rebels and Sudanese officials in Abuja, Nigeria, are "crucial," the EU said.

"Only a political solution, based on mutual concessions by all sides, will enable this region to stabilize and its people to regain their confidence so that the displaced persons and refugees can return home," it said in the statement.

The Brussels talks also are expected to focus on ensuring that oil revenues are fairly split among ethnic groups in Sudan.

The AU's peacekeeping mandate expires at the end of March. On Friday, ministers are to discuss whether the AU should hand over the mission to the U.N. with the AU mission is quickly running out of funds.

The UN Security Council recommended on Feb 3 that the United Nations start planning to take over peacekeeping in Darfur. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged major powers to take part, saying an expanded force will need the kind of assets only a highly capable military can provide. (ST/AP)

International Men's Day 8 March 2006 - If men are raped they need four female witnesses to support charge

Excerpt from The Secretary-General's remarks on International Women's Day:

The theme of this year's International Women's Day -- the role of women in decision-making -- is central to the advancement of women around the world, and to the progress of humankind as a whole.

As the Beijing Declaration tells us, "women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace."

More than ten years after the Beijing Declaration, we still have far to go in ensuring that half the world's population takes up its rightful place in the world's decision-making.

Yeah sure, whatever. How ridiculous would it sound for men to need an International Men's Day?



Photo via Photo via Congo Watch: Sexual abuse by men continues and women take brunt of human rights abuse.

Women and girls faced "horrific" levels of abuse in 2004 worldwide, Amnesty International said in its annual human rights review, blaming widespread rape and violence on a mix of "indifference, apathy and impunity". What has changed since 2004? Not a lot.

Hey guys - especially the ones in Khartoum - celebrate International Women's Day by reading The Crushing Burden of Rape Sexual Violence in Darfur.



And read about the janjaweed rape babies.

If you are a woman in Darfur who has been raped and you want to lay a charge, it is virtually certain that legal officers will automatically reduce your allegation to one of assault. If you persevere with your rape accusation, you will be told to do the impossible and provide four male witnesses to support your charge. As a result, sexual violence goes almost totally unpunished and is one of the biggest violations of women's rights in Darfur. Good eh? Well done chaps.

NATO rules out troop presence in Darfur

AP report Mar 7, 2006 saying NATO rules out troop presence in Darfur is no different from what NATO has been saying all along over the past year. Excerpt:

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ruled out on Monday sending troops from the western military alliance to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur province. De Hoop Scheffer said he believed that NATO could help in the region during the transition phase from an African Union operation to one led by the United Nations but only with a clear UN mandate.

"Then we can discuss a NATO role, which I do see in the enabling sphere and not the boots of troops on the ground," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defence ministers in Innsbruck, Austria.

Update: Mar 7 2006 (PoTP) Jones: NATO not asked to intervene in Sudan - NATO officials have not been asked to prepare for taking a greater role in Darfur, despite widespread calls for more Western military support to stop the ethnic violence there, the alliance's commander told lawmakers Tuesday.

Libya sets up surveillance groups on Chad-Sudan borders

Report from AngolaPress Tripoli, Libya, March 6, 2006:

The African ministerial committee on the Chad-Sudan crisis has agreed in Tripoli to set up surveillance groups on the common borders of the two countries, Libyan Foreign Minister Abderrahman Chalgham has said.

Speaking at the end of the committee meeting in the Libyan capital Friday, Chalgham said the groups and military commissions would start soon.



The ministerial committee is to hold another meeting before the end of this month, he added.

The Libyan official said the decision to set up the control groups followed a report by the African Union (AU) Commissioner for peace and security, Said Djinnit.

He also explained that the committee identified 10 positions for surveillance, five on each of the two countries` borders, as well as the States expected to form the control groups and the mechanisms for their operation.

Chalgam described the Tripoli meting as "constructive, sincere and detailed," resulting in "practical" decisions to be translated into concrete actions on the ground.

In addition to Djinnit, Foreign Ministers or their representatives from Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, and Burkina Faso's Youssouf Ouedraogo, current chairman of the executive council of the Community of the Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), also attended the Tripoli meeting.

The ministerial committee was set up by a recent African mini-summit convened by the Libyan leader, Colonel Moammar Kadhafi, on the Chad-Sudan crisis.

Darfur rebels derail peace talks - Sudan's VP to attend

Opheera McDoom (Reuters) 6 March 2006 says the SLA rebel split is likely to stall African Union-sponsored peace talks, just as other rebel divisions have helped derail six previous rounds of talks. Infighting has destabilised security in Darfur, where rape, killing and looting has forced 2 million people from their homes to miserable camps:

The head of the African Union mission in Sudan, Baba Gana Kingibe, said the group was powerful and had put the brakes on the AU-mediated talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha is to travel to the talks to raise the stakes and expedite a deal, state-owned press reported on Sunday. Note, Mr Taha is due in Brussels tomorrow to discuss Darfur.

New split looms against Darfur rebels' SLM leader Nur

Here we go again. Whenever the Darfur peace talks reach a critical stage, trouble starts brewing in northeastern Sudan and the Sudanese rebels create a split. Darfur's rag bag army of rebels seem too hot headed and uneducated to be capable of discipline and responsibility. Give them an inch and they take a mile. No wonder they have been ruled by the stick for so long. They need someone with vision like John Garang to lead them by the nose and hold things together. The only joiner I can think of, who speaks their language in more ways than one, is Libyan leader Col Gaddafi.

Meanwhile in Darfur, anarchy reins, defenceless Sudanese women and children continue to suffer, and time ticks on while the dirt poor children grow up during war without receiving an education.

Mar 5, 2006 Sudan Tribune article says in a move justified by their opposition to the conclusion of a deal between their leader Abelwahid Mohmaed al-Nur and the Sudanese government, a 19 member group from the leadership of rebel group SLM decided to freeze the powers of Nur as chairman of the SLM. Excerpt:

"For his part, Abdelwahid said the 19 group is not qualified to take such decision, he also reiterated his decision to end the coordination with the other rebel groups which have been negotiating as a unified Front.

This is the second division within the SLM. After a conference convened in Haskanita, a rebel-held town in North Darfur state, the SLM is divided to two factions, Minawi faction and Abdelwahid faction.

These divisions will complicate the task of the AU Mediation team in Abuja. Also, it will conduct international community to make more pressures on the rebel group during the talks."

Sudanese Vice President Ali Taha to visit Brussels

March 5, 2006 Bahrain News Agency reports Sudan's Vice President, Ali Othamn Mohammed Taha will visit Brussels next Tuesday for talks on Darfur with senior EU officials.

Sudan orders two US aid agencies to withdraw from Beja area, northeastern Sudan near Eritrea border

March 5, 2006 Associated Press says the Sudanese government has ordered the only two international charity groups to withdraw from the Beja area. No reason given.

Update 8 Mar 2006 (Reuters) Aid agency denies reports it was expelled from Sudan.



Photo: Beja people collect water in the rebel-controlled area of eastern Sudan, near the border with Eritrea June 4, 2005. (Reuters). The Beja Congress is an exiled group representing numerous eastern Sudan tribes. Last year, an alliance signed an accord with the Sudanese government to end its 16-year low-intensity conflict and support a separate peace deal that ended the 21-year southern civil war. The Beja group, however, rejected the accord, saying it failed to meet its demands for a share of wealth and power in the northeastern region.

Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute

March 5, 2006 Strategy Page Someone Is Eventually Going to Lose says: "No good news here. Ethiopia is still mired in ethnic and political disputes that cannot be settled peacefully. Neighboring Eritrea has become a police state, and is demanding that Ethiopia back off in a border dispute. Neither nation can afford another round of warfare over the disputed border town of Badme. But the governments in both countries have pledged their political futures to getting Badme. Someone is eventually going to lose."

Further reading:

Mar 1 2006 Britain to host talks in London re Ethiopia and Eritrea border dispute

Mar 1 2006 Lift ban on helicopter flights, Annan tells Eritrea

Mar 3 2006 Feb 2006 UN report says Eritrea, Libya, Chad supply arms to Darfur rebels

The 21st century's most explosive commodity will be . . . WATER

There's plenty of it to meet the world's needs but too much of our supply is in the wrong places says a report at thebusinessonline.com by Allister Heath 5 March 2006, copied in full at Ethiopia Watch, for future reference: The 21st century's most explosive commodity will be . . . WATER

Note Feb 28 2006 Water to spark future wars: UK.

Jan 12 2006 Sudan's Chinese backed Merowe Dam is for the greater benefit of Sudan



Photo: South Sudanese drinks - via Sudan Watch Feb 23 2006 Drilling for Sudan's drinking water is more important than drilling for oil - handpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding.

Gaddafi receives Darfur rebels' JEM president Khalil Ibrahim

LJBCNews 5 Mar 2006 reports Col Gaddafi received Saturday evening the Head of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur, Dr Khalil Ibrahim. Excerpt:

Dr Khalil Ibrahim informed the Leader of the latest developments in the region and the reconciliation process among different parties.

The Head of Justice and Equality Movement renewed his deep appreciation of the tireless and constant efforts made by the Leader with all sides to solve the problem in Darfur region and to consolidate peace and security there, underlining the dire need to continue these efforts made by the Leader who enjoys the trust and appreciation of all parties in the region and in Sudan in general.

Photo: Khalil Ibrahim, President JEM rebel group - via Sudan Watch archive Jan 20 2006 Darfur rebel SLM-JEM announce new alliance

AU, UN envoys discuss progress of Darfur peace talks and convening of the Joint Commission

Sudan Tribune reports on Mar 4, 2006 the AU Special Envoy for Darfur and Chief Mediator Salim Ahmed Salim, discussed the progress of the Darfur peace talks with UN Special Envoy Jan Pronk, currently on a visit to Abuja:

The two sides agreed on the urgency of convening a meeting of the Joint Commission, which had not met since October 2005, to enable the Sudanese Parties to examine the gravely deteriorating security situation and assume full responsibility for the repeated ceasefire violations.

Salim, expressed the determination of the AU Mediation to ensure that the present Round of Talks comes to a conclusion as soon as possible within the next few weeks.

Darfur rebel group JEM looking for trouble (again)

While the Darfur peace talks continue, JEM, one of the two main rebel groups in Darfur issue a Press Release 5 March 2006. Signed by Ahmed Husain Adam, it claims five waves of army/janjaweed battalions are now on the move, JEM are closely monitoring these military moves and will strike back at the appropriate time.

All-inclusive Darfur Conference - UN force in Darfur only upon AU request - Pronk

At long last, there is news today of an all-inclusive Darfur conference. I seem to recall that a few years ago, militia leaders were invited to peace talks but they did not turn up. Seems they were afraid of being attacked or arrested.

Surely this time might be different, especially after two years of Col Gaddafi's effort behind the scenes to broker peace for Darfur. He seems gifted at drawing people together and speaks their language, in more ways than one.

Today, a British reader posted a comment at Sudan Watch rightly noting:

"Libya has seen attempts by the Arab League and the AU to solve the crisis in Darfur fail in the past. Multi-party conferences took place in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, for example, the summit participants included the Egyptian President, the Libyan leader, the Nigerian President (also the AU chairman), the Sudanese President, the Eritrean President, and the Chadian President. Also attending was the Arab League Secretary General and representatives from a number of regional organizations. However two main Darfur rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, chose to stay away.

"Leaders from Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Nigeria and Chad voiced opposition to foreign interference in Darfur, stressing the issue should be solved within the AU framework."

But what is different this time is, the warring parties are under pressure from the UN and facing sanctions, travel bans, ICC inquiries and donor funding for development. Who knows, as an incentive to agree a ceasefire with the next few weeks they may even be offered ICC immunity and the role of UN troops in Darfur may be along the lines of the UN peacekeeping force agreed for South Sudan as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed January 2005.

Sudan Tribune article Mar 4, 2006 quotes UN envoy Jan Pronk as saying UN force in Darfur will only be upon AU request. Excerpt:

In a press statement after his meeting with the head of the government delegation in Abuja, Majdhub al-Khalifah, Pronk said talks on whether to hand over the AU's mission in Darfur to the UN should be held after the African Peace and Security Council meeting on 10 March.

Pronk said his meeting with Majzoub al-Khalifah tackled the importance of an all-inclusive Darfur conference, which required the participation of all the sons of Darfur, including the armed movements, the civil administrations and political parties.

Pronk said the meeting also discussed ways to stop militias attacking civilians pointing out that attacks were still continuing.